Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Allergies and intolerances

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Eczema

10 replies

Emily1986xx · 21/04/2025 10:10

Hi, my 1 year old daughter has bad eczema on face and all over her body, legs especially. Doctors constantly are palming us off saying she'll grow out of it, I've asked for allergy testing but they refuse saying allergy testing isnt available on the NHS, we live in Wales. I've purchased intolerance test online but not sure how reliable they are. Does anyone know whether allergy testing is available on the NHS or has had their child referred for one?

Eczema
Eczema
Eczema
OP posts:
NoNewsisGood · 21/04/2025 10:21

Insist on referral. The NHS absolutely do allergy testing and will absolutely do it on your age child. You need, however, to be referred to an allergy team. The GP will do naff all. Find out if there is one at your local/nearby hospital if you can by calling directly, or looking on their website. Even a big local pharmacy might be able to help as they will know who prescribes the stuff for the local sufferers.

That looks like uticaria, which is more likely a reaction than just eczema. Keep a food diary as well so that when you eventually get an appointment, you might be able to ask for things to test. They can't really do tests for everything, so guiding them on what seems to be the trigger will be most helpful.

Intolerance tests online I would avoid and discount completely.

Emily1986xx · 21/04/2025 10:37

Thank you so much, I've just goggled allergy team near me and apparently there's pediatric department specialising in allergies in my local hospital, I do need referral from GP though... I think I'll just need to put my foot down and demand to be referred OR go down to a&e and hopefully she'll be checked over then reffered there and then

OP posts:
Mushroo · 21/04/2025 10:44

The NHS do allergy testing but it’s only accurate for immediate reactions - eg sneezing, coughing, hives within 2 hours of exposure to an allergen.

Intolerence testing isn’t accurate.

Eczema is caused by faulty genes and lots of the time doesn’t have a cause per se. Some things can flare it up, but particularly with food, it’s better to not remove from the diet to try to prevent an immediate type allergy forming.

You should push for proper eczema treatment though - the right steroids and protopic has been life changing for us. The horrible paraffin creams GPs suggest did nothing.

Emily1986xx · 21/04/2025 11:29

Thank you for that, the steroid cream GP prescribed helped but then the rash came back even worse, we've used the cream until the skin was healed as prescribed, I've heard if you stop the treatment too early it may do more damage than good. I think we just need to see a specialist to get a better understanding what's causing it and how to treat it. She's eating now and trying to figure out what's causing the problem by elimination is near impossible 😟

OP posts:
NoNewsisGood · 21/04/2025 18:41

@Emily1986xx Great news about the hospital! It will still likely take a while for an appointment. In the meantime, do take pictures and date them so you can show what has happened and why you are so concerned.

With it being around the mouth, could be eczema irritated by something she is eating. At this age, things like tomatoes and certain other fruits can being the redness. It is not a 'true' allergic reaction in the same way and should help by cleaning around the mouth, if memory serves me right. The picture of her back though looks like uticaria or hives. Allergy UK have a lot of useful info https://www.allergyuk.org/ and Anaphylaxis.org have a lot of really good factsheets: https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/factsheets/ I would say it would be worthwhile reading and learning and arming yourself with some info. Most GPs barely cover any allergy or eczema in their training so it won't take long before you know as much as they do.

Also worth educating yourself on the treatments. Some of the steroids are not so great, especially in sunlight. Certainly there are some I would never use. Understand your options. If it is allergy-related, you need to look at antihistamines. The pharmacy can probably help with that and I would definitely give my child them today with the skin like that. But, not sure what can be given over the counter for that age these days, you might need to wait for a prescription. You can always get the pharmacist to tell you what they would recommend and then ask the GP directly for that until they can refer you or tell you why it is happening, etc.

I would say the usual suspects are milk, egg, nuts, peanuts, soy or sesame at this age. It doesn't have to be every time she has the food as it could be the format of it (e.g. milk baked in a biscuit is different to drinking milk). Eczema reactions are also a little slower, so could be something she had the half day or whole day before. The other thing to look at is contact with something - laundry detergent, cream, pet, etc. Keep a record of foods (I know, boring and a pain for sure) and also of her mood - is she irritated or sort of fussing or whiny or sleepy after eating something particular? Tummy aches/poos that are different? Does she itch the redness?

Don't eliminate anything unless you are sure it is the culprit. Just write down what she has and when and then what happens, and when.

It doesn't sound at all like the steroids were the problem. The GPs give much stricter instructions than the consultants usually do. The reality is, they are usually not tricky to use unless it is really long term (though, some particular ones might be, but I would guess the GP gave you something pretty broad as a starter). Usually with steroids it should be a kind of 'hard and fast' approach to combat a flare up, then taper off the usage. The only way a steroid would have caused the hives is if she is allergic to the ingredients. It is more likely that it calmed it down, but the cause is yet unknown so it has come back.

For the GP - be insistent. Do you have any atopic members of the family? This would help your case (anaphylaxis, eczema, asthma, hayfever, etc.) that it should be taken seriously. You could also talk to one of the organisations in the meantime which would also arm you with facts and info to help you but also to get seen. I think GPs are usually ok with referring you as it gets you off their case. They just have to have enough of a reason to justify it. I think the NICE guidelines used to be about saying the right thing. If, for example, you tell them it is affecting the daily lives of the child, you, the whole household, they are more likely to refer you.

Allergy UK | National Charity

Allergy UK is the national charity providing support for people living with allergies

https://www.allergyuk.org

jocktamsonsbairn · 21/04/2025 21:12

Try natural oats for her. I used to think it was an old wives tale but tried it in desperation and it worked. Took all the redness and itching away. I used it on both DC when babies to help with exzcema. Just put some oats in a hanky/linen square (tie it up tight) and use in the bath. Wet it a d squeeze the oaty milky liquid on the sore bits. Dab the sore bits with the oats in linen if you don’t want to do it in the bath.
also you can insist on allergy tests as others have said.

Great idea about testing washing powder - that’s something that sets me off and o have to take my own pillow cases with me when I travel! The worst ones for me are Fairy, Surf and Daz. Surprisingly the best ones. For me are Ariel or Tesco own brand biological! My DS was the same as a baby!

we all also react with bad itchy skin to some animals. Cats are the worst culprits but some dogs are too.

Hope you get her sorted.

Emily1986xx · 24/04/2025 14:31

Thank you all so much, I finally managed to get appointment with GP, I've made it clear I'm not leaving until I get referral to local allergy clinic which was reluctantly granted. I've eliminated cows milk and anything dairy from her diet as I'm convinced it's the formula that triggered it, she's suffered from it since she was 4 mo. She seem to be reacting to literally everything she's eating- toast, fish, pasta, fruit. I guess my question is do I eliminate gluten from her diet as well or should I wait for testing first? I'm considering going to a&e and asking to speak with someone more clued on allergies as my GP seem to know less than I do, Please help 😟

OP posts:
Mushroo · 24/04/2025 22:00

@Emily1986xxmy advice would be don’t eliminate unless she’s having immediate reactions, otherwise you will drive yourself insane.

I remember feeling the same way, every night at bath time I’d analyse her skin and try to relate it back to what she’d eaten. I was convinced she had allergies to nuts, legumes, peas, coconut, fish, tomato.

She’s only allergic to egg and that was a really obvious immediate reaction. Her skin has improved so much just with age and a good regime (she’s only 16 months now!). A daily antihistamine also really helped with random ‘reactions’.

Take a look at Dr Helen Allergy on Facebook / Instagram. There’s loads of advice on dealing with eczema and allergies.

Best of luck with it all, I know how stressful it is

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 25/04/2025 07:21

I would try a non-dairy diet, it's worth a try. Many of us are dairy intolerant but just don't realise.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page